The history of Botulinum toxin: from poison to beauty.

Botulinum toxin, also called the "miracle toxin," is a neurotoxin produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. It is known to block nerve signals that contract muscles resulting in a temporary paralysis of the muscles. Toxins type A and B have been extensively studied and utilized in the realm of beauty and cosmetology. Initially, the toxin gained popularity as a disease-causing "poison". It was only later that it found its way to becoming a must have in modern aesthetic practice. Today, this wonder toxin has proven to be an apt and convenient option in the field of anti-aging medicine.

On Anecdote and Antidotes: Poison Trials in Sixteenth-Century Europe.

This article describes the use of poison trials, in which an animal or a condemned criminal was poisoned, to test antidotes in sixteenth-century Europe. In contrast to most drug testing in medieval and early modern Europe, which was gathered in the normal course of therapeutic experience, the poison trial was a contrived, deliberate event. I argue that poison trials had an important function in both medical testing and medical writing in the period between 1524-1580. While poison trials dated back to antiquity, they tended to be described in medieval texts as theoretical possibilities rather than empirical tests that had already occurred. In contrast, early modern physicians conducted poison trials and described them as anecdotes in medical texts. Although physicians did not explicitly separate poison trials from evidence gathered in the course of regular therapeutic experience, they did imbue the outcome of poison trials with considerable epistemological weight.

[Venom as a cure--some notes on ancient medicine]. / Tiergifte als Heilmittel--ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der antiken Medizin.

Very little is known today about the linguistics and facts relating to venoms in the ancient world. The article concerns itself initially with the terminology: How were venoms conceptualized and what position did they occupy among medicines and other poisons? Additionally ancient knowledge of the constitution and location of the venoms will be examined. Furthermore, it shall be outlined how it was perceived that the poisons actually took effect. The results of our investigations indicate that it was unlikely that venoms were used for medicinal purposes in ancient times.

Botany meets archaeology: people and plants in the past.

This paper explores the close links between botany and archaeology, using case studies from the ancient Mediterranean. It explains the kinds of palaeobotanical remains that archaeologists can recover and the methods used to analyse them. The importance of iconographic and textual evidence is also underlined. Examples of key research areas that focus on ancient plants are discussed: diet and palaeoeconomy; medicines, poisons, and psychotropics; perfumes, cosmetics, and dyes; and prestige.

[The most popular poisons from Graeco-Roman world]. / Najbardziej popularne trucizny swiata grecko-rzymskiego.

Article presents the most popular antique poisons. Information from encyclopaedic literature and literary texts of the Roman Empire period has been compared with the etymology of the names of some poisons of plant and animal origin.

Venoms and Poisonings during the Centuries: A Narrative Review.

The first traces of man's of poison use date back to ten thousand years ago since the last period of the Paleolithic era. Man used poison for hunting and defense. Indeed, in the second half of the 19th century, arrows made from the bones of animals characterized by particular grooves were found in some caves. In ancient Greece, the term pharmakon (φάρµακον) had a double meaning: remedy for therapy and venom. This is the period in which humans became aware of the fact that poison cannot be defined simply as a substance capable of changing the properties of things. Poison is very frequently mentioned in the history of the Roman Empire, and its use continued through the Renaissance and even during the modern era. Poison was the protagonist in multiple political intrigues of power and is one of the most used lethal weapons over the years. Thought of as the optimal solution for a perfect murder, the poison has a long history. Its success is due to the invisible, untraceable, and often unpunished death it causes.

Guatemala's green revolution: synthetic fertilizer, public health, and economic autonomy in the Mayan highland.

Despite extensive literature both supporting and critiquing the Green Revolution, surprisingly little attention has been paid to synthetic fertilizers' health and environmental effects or indigenous farmers' perspectives. The introduction of agrochemicals in the mid-twentieth century was a watershed event for many Mayan farmers in Guatemala. While some Maya hailed synthetic fertilizers' immediate effectiveness as a relief from famines and migrant labor, other lamented the long-term deterioration of their public health, soil quality, and economic autonomy. Since the rising cost of agrochemicals compelled Maya to return to plantation labor in the 1970s, synthetic fertilizers simply shifted, rather than alleviated, Mayan dependency on the cash economy. By highlighting Mayan farmers' historical narratives and delineating the relationship between agricultural science and postwar geopolitics, the constraints on agriculturists' agency become clear. In the end, politics, more than technology or agricultural performance, influenced guatemala's shift toward the Green Revolution.

Curare: the South American arrow poison.

The history of curare is both curious and convoluted. A product of South American culture it emerged in the sixteenth century from the mists of antiquity at the same time as quinine, coca, and chocolate. Like quinine, at first came the extract but no plant, and later the plant but no chemical compound. It took more than 300 years and the efforts of many explorers and scientists to resolve the problem. These included Condamine, Humboldt, Brodie, Waterton, Bernard, Dale, Walker, and King. Finally, the pure compound d-tubocurarine was isolated from the liana Chondrodendron and synthesised. Its specific physiological action was blockade of the effect of acetylcholine at the neuro-muscular junction. Such a paralytic poison could be used to kill oneself or others. The bizarre plot to kill the Prime Minister, Lloyd George, during the First World War is described. Fortunately this nefarious plan was thwarted by the Secret Service!

Arrow poisons in south Asia. Part 1. Arrow poisons in ancient India.

The use of arrow poisons in ancient India is discussed. While it is possible that Mesolithic hunting communities may have applied poison to their arrows, passages in the Rg Veda and Atharva Veda indicate its use in warfare. The meaning of the word -ala, used in the Rg Veda to denote the poison smeared on the arrowheads, is examined; but the available evidence, while almost certainly excluding a mineral (arsenical) source, does not allow a conclusion to be drawn between an animal and/or plant origin. Certain hymns in the Atharva Veda point to aconite tubers as one source. Later Sanskrit (and Buddhist) literature shows that poisoned arrows continued to be used and that a second source of poison was (putrefying) snakes--a source confirmed by an account in the classical literature of Alexander the Great's campaign in western India. Detailed descriptions of the symptoms and methods of treatment of wounds caused by poisoned arrows are to be found in the Sanskrit medical literature.

Arrow and dart poisons.

The history of arrow and dart poisons is briefly reviewed and this is followed by an outline of their use throughout the world. Their composition and sources of active principles, both plant and animal, are considered and certain ethnological aspects are dealt with. Finally, some applications of arrow- and dart-poison constituents as medicinal agents and pharmacological tools are indicated.

Arrow poisons in China. Part I.

Arrow poisons have been used for at least 2500 years in various parts of China by the Han and other peoples. The preparation and use of these poisons is discussed on the basis of accounts in Chinese and Western sources. Mostly, the principal ingredient has been an extract derived from the tubers of Aconitum species, especially A. carmichaelii Debx. (wu t'ou, fu tzu, ts'ao wu). Certain peoples of the south-west and south, besides using Aconitum, have also obtained an essential ingredient from the juice (latex) of Antiaris toxicaria Lesch. (tu mu, hu, chien hsüeh feng hou, nu chien tzu, ka tuk). The chemistry and pharmacology of the active principles found in certain of the plants incorporated into the poisons are dealt with briefly (but this does not include Aconitum, which will be treated in some detail in Part II).

[Poisoning with toxic plants in Curacao in 1766]. / Vergiftiging met toxische planten op Curaçao in 1766.

In the spring of 1766 a black supervisor in Curaçao was the victim of attempted poisoning by a black practitioner or curador, engaged by two persons caught stealing by the supervisor. Data on the case were preserved in a letter from the Curaçao director to the managers of the West-Indian Company in Amsterdam. In retrospect, the symptoms of the intoxication indicate that a similar mixture of toxic plants was used as described in 890 A.D. by the Arabic medical writer Wahshiya in his 'Book of Poisons': Calotropis procera and Pithecellobium unguis cati.

Some recollections of Porton in World War 1. Commentary.

Chemical weapons now regularly feature in news reports and the threat from them has become widely recognised by the public at large. Terrorist actions such as the Tokyo subway incident in 1995, coupled with the persistent use of agents such as sulphur mustard and Sarin by the Iraqi regime over the last 20 years in the Iran/Iraq war and against the Kurds of Northern Iraq, make it easy to think that chemical weapons are a new phenomenon. This paper reminds us that many chemical agents were developed during WWI; indeed the first use of a chemical agent was the release of chlorine gas--a choking agent--by the Germans over the battlefields of Ypres in 1915. Porton Down remains at the very heart of chemicals and biological weapons research, albeit in a purely defensive capacity; few of the old buildings remain and the idyllic lifestyle in the Officer's Mess at Idmiston Manor has long since disappeared. These recollections provide a fascinating insight into scientific research at the time of World War I.

[A treatise on medieval toxicology: the "Liber de venenis" by Pietro d'Abano (French translation from the early 15th century)]. / Un traité de toxicologie médiévale: le Liber de venenis de Pietro d'Abano (traduction française du début du XVe siècle.

Presentation of the manuscript Paris, B.N.F., Fr. 14820 (French translation of the Liber de venenis by Pietro d'Abano completed in 1402) and description of the treatise from the 14th century, which is a sum of the knowledge on poisons as of that time. The critical study of the manuscript, now in the process of publication, sets forth evidence of significant variations between the original text and the translation.

The power of poison: pesticide poisoning of Africa's wildlife.

Poisons have long been used to kill wildlife throughout the world. An evolution has occurred from the use of plant- and animal-based toxins to synthetic pesticides to kill wildlife, a method that is silent, cheap, easy, and effective. The use of pesticides to poison wildlife began in southern Africa, and predator populations were widely targeted and eliminated. A steep increase has recently been observed in the intensity of wildlife poisonings, with corresponding population declines. However, the majority of poisonings go unreported. Under national laws, it is illegal to hunt wildlife using poisons in 83% of African countries. Pesticide regulations are inadequate, and enforcement of existing legislation is poor. Few countries have forensic field protocols, and most lack storage and testing facilities. Methods used to poison wildlife include baiting carcasses, soaking grains in pesticide solution, mixing pesticides to form salt licks, and tainting waterholes. Carbofuran is the most widely abused pesticide in Africa. Common reasons for poisoning are control of damage-causing animals, harvesting fish and bushmeat, harvesting animals for traditional medicine, poaching for wildlife products, and killing wildlife sentinels (e.g., vultures because their aerial circling alerts authorities to poachers' activities). Populations of scavengers, particularly vultures, have been decimated by poisoning. Recommendations include banning pesticides, improving pesticide regulations and controlling distribution, better enforcement and stiffer penalties for offenders, increasing international support and awareness, and developing regional pesticide centers.

Animal experiments, vital forces and courtrooms: Mateu Orfila, François Magendie and the study of poisons in nineteenth-century France.

The paper follows the lives of Mateu Orfila and François Magendie in early nineteenth-century Paris, focusing on their common interest in poisons. The first part deals with the striking similarities of their early careers: their medical training, their popular private lectures, and their first publications. The next section explores their experimental work on poisons by analyzing their views on physical and vital forces in living organisms and their ideas about the significance of animal experiments in medicine. The last part describes their contrasting research on the absorption of poisons and the divergences in their approaches, methods, aims, standards of proof, and intended audiences. The analysis highlights the connections between nineteenth-century courtrooms and experimental laboratories, and shows how forensic practice not only prompted animal experimentation but also provided a substantial body of information and new research methods for dealing with major theoretical issues like the absorption of poisons.